Gas turbines are continuously being exposed to harsher conditions including higher temperature and pressure, in order to improve efficiency. The higher temperatures and pressures may have deleterious effects on gas turbine components, such as creep damage, fatigue and cracking. This damage can require repair or replacement of the component, which is both costly and time consuming.
Repair and replacement of components often results in significant operational delays, lost production, and reduced overall operational efficiency. When a component, such as a turbine blade, is damaged, the turbine can be shut down and the blade is removed for repair. In addition to the time required to remove a damaged blade and re-install a repaired blade, the entire turbine can be in-operational during repair.
One method of repair includes removing the damaged component, locally blending the damage site and undergoing a heat treatment based repair process. This is time consuming and results in significant lost productivity. An attempt to return a turbine to operational condition without heat treatment involves removing the damaged component, excising a damaged portion and returning the component with an exposed area to the device. The device having the component with the exposed area operates at a reduced or diminished capacity.
A repair process not suffering from the above drawbacks would be desirable in the art.